Independent MPs and crossbench senators are pushing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to remove Regional Forestry Agreements (or RFAs), allowing native forest harvesting to operate outside environmental laws in New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia.
As reported in the Guardian yesterday, former Australian Rugby Union player David Pocock (now a senator from the ACT) and Lidia Thorpe (the first Indigenous Australian elected to the Senate from Victoria) have been negotiating with the Albanese government over the Nature Positive Act.
Wood Central understands that Senator Pocock and Senator Thorpe are pushing hard for the government to end ten RFAs—five in Victoria, three in New South Wales, and one each in WA and Tasmania—which, according to the Australian government, are long-term plans for the sustainable management and conservation of native forests.
Dr Sophie Scamps, a teal MP from Mackeller in New South Wales, wrote to Prime Minister Albanese on Thursday urging him to remove the exemptions, saying without that step, it would be “difficult to credibly say that your government has kept your promise” to fix broken environment laws.
Co-signatories to that letter include Allegra Spender, the daughter of iconic fashion designer Carla Zampatti and sister to Alex Schuman, the current CEO of Carla Zampatti and financial backer of the powerful Hilma’s Network; Zali Steggall; Zoe Daniel; Monique Ryan; Kylea Tink; Kate Chaney; and Thorpe.
The letter comes two years after Tanya Plibersek, Australia’s powerful environmental minister, said it was “time to change” the laws that did not protect the environment and stated that new legislation would be introduced in 2023.
The government has since ruled out introducing the new laws during this term of government but is trying to introduce legislation to create an independent environmental agency. The powers and role of the agency are under negotiation in the Senate.
“It’s a critical time in these negotiations, and we have been putting pressure on from the House. We have moved amendments to abolish these RFAs, and we continue to apply pressure. The problem (with the RFAs) is we have a completely different context nearly 25 years later. We’re facing a climate crisis, an extinction crisis and an environmental crisis. This needs to be addressed.”
Dr Sophie Scamps wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last Thursday.
According to Scamps, logging under the RFAs is not geared around protecting threatened species, including the koala and the greater glider. Forests are logged for low-level products like palettes and garden stakes, damaging critical habitat for threatened species.
As per the Guardian report, the questions directed to Albanese’s office were sent to Plibersek’s office. In a statement, Plibersek said the government was “doing more than ever to protect our country’s natural treasures and iconic native plants and animals.”
She did not comment on the forestry agreements. Still, she encouraged the crossbench to support the government’s legislation before the Senate, establishing an independent environment protection agency that could “issue ‘stop-work’ orders to prevent serious environmental damage and proactively audit businesses they’re doing the right thing”.
- To learn more about the Nature Positive Act and the push by the crossbench to remove RFAs, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from February.
